Category: Musings

U.S. district judge Roger Vinson, in Pensacola, Florida on Monday threw out the nation’s health care law, declaring it unconstitutional because it violates the Commerce Clause. The ruling was hailed a victory for individual rights and will surely revive a feud among competing philosophies about the role of government. The judge ruled that as a result of the unconstitutionality of the “individual mandate” that required people to buy insurance, the entire law must be declared void.

Vinson wrote: “I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the act with the individual mandate. That is not to say, of course, that Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care system. The health care market is more than one-sixth of the national economy, and without doubt Congress has the power to reform and regulate this market. That has not been disputed in this case. The principal dispute has been about how Congress chose to exercise that power here.”

In spite of the ruling, steps appear to still be taken for it’s implementation. According to a CBS News report, “The White House officials said that the ruling would not have an impact on implementation of the law, which is being phased in gradually. (The individual mandate, for example, does not begin until 2014.) They said that states cannot use the ruling as a basis to delay implementation in part because the ruling does not rest on “anything like a conventional Constitutional analysis.” Twenty-six states were involved in the lawsuit.” A popular economics blogger Karl Denninger has even used the word “sedition” to characterise the administrations ongoing activities in spite of the ruling. I kindly disagree. The administration’s ongoing steps taken to implement the law, however; may rise to the standard of Contempt of Court which is equally a serious matter.

On April 12, 1999, President Clinton became the first sitting president in United States history to be held in contempt of court. The contempt charge against President Clinton stemmed from a deposition he gave in connection with a 1994 Sexual Harassment lawsuit filed by Paula Jones. Jones v. Clinton, 858 F. Supp. 902 (E.D. Ark. 1994). Clinton was impeached four months earlier for perjury in that deposition and obstruction of justice, he was acquitted by the Senate behind closed doors on February 12, 1999. If Judge Vinson holds the administration in contempt, it is conceivable the House of Representatives could move for an impeachment of Obama. In my opinion, it is doubtful given that governments around the globe are themselves suffering from citizen unrest in light of rampant food inflation caused by the US Federal Reserves dollar debasement policy.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder, along comes the new Pepsi logo. As a scientist, I’m trained to think in terms of symmetry. The original Pepsi logo had a Yin and Yang thing going on. When I saw the new logo, I couldn’t help but think it looked incredibly familiar. Kind of like the Obama logo during the 2008 election. I decided to put the two together, rotate the O-logo and WOW!

Question: Is this an uncanny resemblance or a blatant attempt by Pepsi to play on Zero’s logo?

I just returned from an international trip and decided to check the news to see, hear, or read the progress to stop the BP Gulf Spill from poisoning the waters, killing plankton, algae and ultimately destroying portions of the food chain. But sadly, producers and controllers of networks and editors of our fifth estate have decided the spill is old news. 70+ days AFTER the spill began, no progress has been made to contain the harm. 70+ days AFTER we have no images, no photos, no live feed of the 150+ square miles of spill now greater than the size of the state of Missouri! News crews are prevented by our Coast Guard (a division of Homeland Security) from flying over and reporting on the clean-up! I have just one question.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE!

There was more in depth coverage of Michael Jackson’s passing and funeral than there is this catastrophe. Go ahead and continue to sit on your ass, eating hot dogs, taking Prozac and watching tv, there’s nothing going on.

I just grew plain tired of the old bag. She was more than scarred by time. She was a little worn around the edges. Granted, I’ve grown fond of the old girl through the years. She’s fun to play with but watch out ’cause she has more than a little fight in her. But you know what she sure knows how to please a man. In fact, I recommend everyone try one out some time. That’s why it was time for a face-lift. No, sailor I’m not talking about Ms. Lee. I’m talking about the Chicom Norinco SKS.

Today I received, installed, and test-fired the old gal in her new outfit. To give her a new look and feel, I bought the Center Balanced Rifle Platform System. The stock is a bullpup design. The overall length is 30 inches from head to butt fully installed. The engineering and craftsmanship more than exceeded my expectations. The bullpup design allows a user to maintain a compact shooting profile in close quarters while permitting the standard barrel length so as not to sacrifice accuracy at longer ranges.

Here’s a picture to brag on her. Her eyes are outfitted with an NCStar 3-9x scope with mil dot reticles. The particular stock I purchased was the Tac model for the Norinco SKS. The stock was a value at $292 including shipping (east of the Miss, slightly less if you live in God’s country). I know, some of you are going to say “You paid more for that stock than the gun costs.” Yes I did. But I don’t care. I’m a gun nut. That’s just what we do.

Over the past several decades, we have been living in a world driven by hyper competition. It used to be that nations were content to control the people and markets within their own borders. And for the most part left other nations alone or engaged in the exchange of raw materials and finished goods between each other in a symbiotic fashion. But now, nations struggle against one another for dwindling resources and within these nations businesses struggle against one another in pursuit of an ever shrinking amount of business. Greed drove wages in developed nations up and competition drove manufacturing offshore. Somewhere along the line, competition and greed made truth anathema to business.

The funny thing is, it didn’t have to be this way. People aren’t constructed to constantly strive under the stresses we now endure. Consider the mountain gorillas in Africa. Their life centers on finding sustenance, fellowship, and pro-create. Consider your house cat or dog. It eats, it sleeps, it greets you, seeks attention, and desires to be fed. Why are we killing ourselves chasing the vanity we call the modern lifestyle? It’s ridiculous, really when you think about it. It’s like putting heels on horseshoes. It doesn’t make any sense and it’s just plain dangerous.

As I have watched our global economy spin out of control these last three years, I have grown more envious of the life led by my grandparents. They were simple people who bought what they needed only when they needed it. My grandpa worked the farm and my grandmother raised their children. They didn’t eat out and they wore shoes until they wore out. They were the kind of folks that fixed things that broke. Like when Europe tore itself apart, my grandpa helped mend it with his own blood. We were once a nation of rugged individualists. Now we’ve been subjugated by collectivists. I don’t think my grandpa would recognize this country were he still alive today.

We all know the charges of Acorn’s voter registration fraud, but is anyone concerned like me that they’ll, under a new name, spread their tentacles to corrupt the census? One of the purposes of the census is to accurately count the population distribution so that state legislatures can realign congressional districts. Districts will be taken from regions that lose population and added to regions that have grown. This may have a profound impact on the makeup of the US House of Representatives.

I noticed during the NCAA tourney that CBS aired many commercials by the census bureau urging people to fill out the census so that they would “get their fair share.” I am now wondering, are these commercials aired nationally? Or are they aired in targeted markets so as to possibly manipulate the census outcome? I would not be shocked. After all, the Health-care cram down demonstrated to the rest of the nation that this administration would stop at nothing to foist their agenda upon the people, the will of the people be damned.

There are those that appreciate order and those who consider order and structure a form of bondage. Count me in the latter. In the earliest part of our history, freedom of the press permitted any Thomas, Benjamin, or Harold the right to free expression. Somewhere along the line, “professional journalists” appeared. Initially, their appearance was welcomed as a breath of fresh air publishing news “fit to print.” In the early 1990‘s however, professional journalists fell asleep at the tit of corporate media. The era of information in which knowledge was managed by “experts” and “authorities”, as well as representatives of the political, legal, scientific, medical and economic powers-that-be crept into our homes in the guise of news entertainment. Academics, scientists, spokespersons for the state and the owners, producers and editors of big media now decide what is “real news” and what is “not real news”, what is “truth” and what is “fiction.” The power to control opinion had slipped from the people’s hands. But along came the internet. And what a tangled web was woven.

The web, by virtue of it’s speed, lack of control, facility of use, and pervasiveness has become an immediate threat to those who profit from controlling public information, manipulation of sentiment, and content; dealing a serious blow to “information authorities.” Despite being a hotbed of hyperbole, speculation, and outright lies, the web has unchained the average citizen from the milk toast and propaganda of the major infotainment mainstream media outlets, allowing individuals to pick and choose what they find as news and newsworthy. True freedom of the press lies not just in the liberty of writing copy, but the unfettered access to whatever copy one fancies to read. Some worry that a large section of the population are unable to tell the shit from the shinola. Who cares? They are allowed to vote . Why shouldn’t they be allowed to read whatever the hell they want? Unfiltered and unfettered does not mean unfit.

When the overwhelming will of the people, polled over and over, is against entitlement-ism, it makes one wonder. Is the time for armed resistance at hand? When a government no longer listens to the will of the people. When a government no longer respects private property rights. When a government no longer serves the people, but is self-serving. When a government takes power it never had a right to, it practices tyranny. When a government acts like it knows what is best for its people. When a government forces legislation, against its own laws, it certainly begs the question. Is the time for armed resistance at hand?

No tyrannical government has legitimacy. The Declaration of Independence explained clearly when revolution is justified. When will an oppressed people find the courage to throw off the yoke of tyranny? A once great nation has passed away. How can there be loyalty for what remains?